A multiple access protocol, also called a random access protocol, is typically used to facilitate sharing of a broadcast communications channel in a network among many users. The multiple access protocol allows for simultaneous transmissions and resolves conflicts arising from these. Broadcast channels are provided on local and metropolitan area, radio, and satellite networks.
A class of multiple access protocols uses minislots, or reservation slots, in a time slot to achieve a maximum throughput of 1.0. As shown in FIG. 1, numeral 100, in "slotted" environments, information is conveyed in transmission units of fixed length called a "time slot", and portions of time slots (101) are typically reserved for data transformation information such as reservations. These portions (1, . . . N (N a positive integer); 102) are generally called minislots or reservation slots. Since no information is carried over the minislots, it is desirable to use as few minislots as possible. Data is transmitted in the remainder of the time slot, which is called the data slot (104). In the known Distributed Queueing Random Access Protocol (DQRAP) technology, at least three minislots are required to obtain a successful reservation which achieves a maximum throughput of 1.0. The fewer the number of minislots that are required to obtain a successful reservation, the more efficient the use of the bandwidth. Reservations provision is accomplished in the medium access control layer.
Thus, there is a need for an efficient distributed queueing random access method for the medium access control layer in networks with broadcast channels that conserves reservation bandwidth and concomitantly provides immediate transmission access.